Clinton gives go-ahead

Senator says now that FDA has OKd Plan B, she'll no longer block nomination of new chief for agency

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

August 25, 2006

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will stop blocking President George W. Bush's nomination of Andrew von Eschenbach to head the Food and Drug Administration, following the agency's decision yesterday to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B contraceptive pills.

In March, the New York Democrat placed a "hold" on von Eschenbach's nomination, arguing that the Bush administration had delayed a decision on the drug for three years to appease anti-abortion activists.

"It is an important step forward and it is about something more than Plan B," Clinton said, speaking to reporters by phone yesterday. "The decision coming out of the FDA was about the integrity of the agency as a whole. ... Once we allow the FDA to be politicized we are down a very slippery slope." FDA officials have said their decisions were based on science and regulations, not politics.

The von Eschenbach fight also helped burnish Clinton's credentials with abortion rights activists, who were concerned about Clinton's July 2005 statement that a woman's decision to have an abortion was a "tragedy."

The senator said yesterday that she still is disturbed by the FDA's requirement that girls under age 18 get a parent's approval before getting the drug.

The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to approve von Eschenbach when it re-convenes early next month. Clinton said she's likely to vote for him; Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who also placed a hold on the nomination, said she's not sure how she'll vote.

Under Senate rules, any member can block an administration appointment indefinitely.

Von Eschenbach, a Bush family friend who also runs the National Cancer Institute, took over the FDA's helm a year ago as acting commissioner. In early 2005, Clinton and Murray held up previous FDA director Lester Crawford's nomination until he agreed to rule on Plan B.

Soon after, however, administration officials backed off that commitment, angering both senators. Crawford later resigned.